The ballet The Rite of Spring (premiered 1913), alongside The Firebird (premiered 1910) and Petrushka (premiered 1911), is counted among Stravinsky's representative early works (commonly known as the 'Three Great Ballets') and is also considered a seminal work of 20th-century primitivism. 'Primitivism' refers to the artistic movement that seeks to draw out the inherent primitive energy and dynamism in music, particularly by elaborating on rhythmic elements. Consequently, many compositions categorized as primitivist take their themes from non-Western dances or ancient rituals, characterized by percussive treatment of instruments and irregular periodic flow of music, which were previously absent in Western music.

The Rite of Spring can also be said to have been created under a primitivist conception, given its subject matter—a ritual of ancient Slavs offering sacrifices to the sun god in praise of spring budding from the earth—and its use of changing meters and seemingly random (as written) accents that create continuous tension.

The genesis of the work cannot be discussed without mentioning the activities of the Ballets Russes (established 1909, disbanded 1929). Its impresario, Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929), was skilled at discovering artistic talent, producing a succession of innovative ballet works with figures still widely known today, including composers such as Satie, Ravel, and Prokofiev; artists such as Picasso and Matisse; and choreographers such as Massine and Balanchine. Stravinsky, then a rising composer, was initially commissioned for The Firebird as a last-minute replacement, and subsequently composed Petrushka and The Rite of Spring under the auspices of the Ballets Russes. For The Rite of Spring, the art and costumes were designed by the intellectual Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947), who is believed to have been involved with Stravinsky from the conceptual stage, and the choreography was by Vaslav Fomich Nijinsky (1890-1950), who had just danced the title role in Petrushka.

Although The Rite of Spring was completed through the collaboration of talents from various artistic fields, its premiere on May 29, 1913, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, is famously reported to have caused a great uproar. Regarding this, there are extreme accounts such as 'shouts and catcalls filled the audience to such an extent that Nijinsky had to shout out the counts for the dancers,' and since there are many contradictions in the statements of those involved, it is still difficult to accurately describe the situation today. What is clear, however, is that the audience at this premiere was divided into factions that supported The Rite of Spring and those that rejected it. This suggests that despite dealing with themes popular in the 19th century, such as 'paganism' and 'antiquity,' the work possessed a quality that set it apart from previous exoticism in Western music. Indeed, The Rite of Spring subsequently captivated many 20th-century artists; musicians, including the recently deceased Pierre Boulez (1925-2016), attempted detailed musical analyses, and choreographers, such as Maurice Béjart (1927-2007), who made significant contributions in Japan, attempted new choreographies.

The two-piano version was written in 1912-13 concurrently with the composition of the ballet, but was published in 1947 after some revisions. Arranged by the composer himself, the structure of each movement, including its polytonal mechanisms and harmonic organization, is rendered exceptionally clear.

Part II, Movement 4: Evocation of the Ancestors / Évocation des ancêtres

The second part can be further divided, both narratively and musically, into 'Selection and Glorification of the Chosen Victim' (movements 1-3) and 'Sacrificial Offering' (movements 4-6), with movement 4 marking the opening of the latter half. The music progresses with a figure containing an F#-E-D# triplet being presented, followed by a responding figure consisting of repeated chords with changing meters. The former figure evokes E minor (if D# is considered a leading tone), while the latter evokes C major with a lowered leading tone (or a C-based Mixolydian mode), resulting in polytonality. Furthermore, the periodicity of the repeated chord figures—5 measures, 3 measures, 11 measures, 13 measures, 3 measures—and the five exchanges between the two figures, all being prime numbers, create a non-Western sense of tempo. Though short, it is a movement that condenses Stravinsky's musical language.

Part II, Movement 5: Ritual Action of the Ancestors / Action rituelle des ancêtres

This is a slow movement that creates an eerie atmosphere through the continuous pulse of string pizzicato and staccato low-register wind instruments, along with melodies rich in chromaticism that fade into the next musical phrase without resolution. The section where the pulse briefly ceases can be considered a middle section, allowing for an A-B-A' division, where the length of section A is approximately equal to the combined length of sections B and A'. A chromatic oscillating figure that appears in the alto flute midway through section A increases in voice count and instrumentation, transforming into intense violin and clarinet tremolos upon its reappearance in section A', thereby amplifying the tension of the movement. The melancholic melody appearing at the beginning of section A is assigned to the bassoon, the clamorous melody appearing at the climaxes of sections A and A' is given to trumpets and horns, and the leaping melody in section B is entrusted to string instruments, demonstrating a skillful use of each instrument's timbre. Expressing these timbres on the piano becomes exceedingly difficult. In the final measure of the movement, only the bass clarinet remains softly, instigating the violent beginning of the concluding movement, 'Sacrificial Dance'.

Part II, Movement 6: Sacrificial Dance (The Chosen One) / Danse sacrale

This movement depicts the chosen maiden dancing until her death, offering her body to the gods, and is particularly characterized by the percussive treatment of instruments and complex rhythmic structures throughout the entire work. In the first 33 measures, no motif that can be called a melody appears; all instruments strike chords based on D, with rhythms fiercely alternating between 2, 3, and 5 beats. The next section is long, spanning 82 measures, and instead of violent chord leaps like in the opening, repeated chords on the same note form the foundation. However, these repetitions create an unsettling motion due to the vibrating sound produced by two consecutive 32nd notes and rests entering at irregular intervals. A quintuplet motif appearing in the high instruments eventually transforms into a continuous rapid figure, building up the music. These 82 measures can be further divided by changes in the fundamental note: 59 measures (fundamental A), 14 measures (fundamental G), and 9 measures (fundamental G#). Considering the opening section's fundamental D, this section begins on A, a perfect fifth above, and conversely, descends to C#, a perfect fifth below G#, in the next section, which can be interpreted as a long dominant from a tonal perspective. The subsequent 33 measures, after the fundamental shifts to C#, are similar in length and musical character to the opening section. In the following 24 measures, a new motif based on D reappears, accompanied by a new accompaniment pattern combining eighth notes and triplets. Of these 24 measures, the first 10 measures feature alternating 5/8, 4/8, and 3/8 meters, while the latter 14 measures are uniformly in 2/8, thereby shortening the musical period and accelerating the music. The subsequent 6 measures feature a reminiscence of the opening, and the following 22 measures inherit the accelerated character of the preceding 14 measures. Finally, in the last 73 measures of the movement, which can also be considered the coda of the entire work, the fundamental shifts to A (the fundamental of the overture's opening, though not performed today, is also A), and violent meter changes and chord leaps return. The music, which gradually increases in accents and leaps from pianissimo to reach fortississimo, suddenly quiets down three measures from the end, only to conclude with an abrupt powerful strike.